Charlie's Blessing

This is a post to celebrate Charlie's special blessing day. September 7, Adam blessed Charlie at our sacrament meeting. I am so grateful that Adam holds the priesthood and can bless our family when we need help and perform these important ordinances. Adam gave Charlie his name Charliue Paul Evans. His middle name, Paul is named after both Adam and my Grandpas who have passed away- we figured that would be a good way to honor them both. Adam then blessed Charlie with health and was told he would be a support to his family. Charlie was promised that if he actively seeks out righteous things, he will be blessed greatly. As my sister Laura said, this is not only true for Charlie, but true for everyone. As we seek righteousness, our lives will become more meaningful. Charlie has brought more meaning into our family and my life. He is so special and has started rewarding us with smiles this month. I love it! He coos and smiles when we smile, but if we make a sad face or pretend to cry, he starts bawling. I guess he's pretty sensitive... I think that will make some girl very happy someday. Charlie was also blessed that he will marry a beautiful girl- I think that means both inside and out. I'll have to remember this to tell my daughter-in-law someday. Whoa.. that was a weird thought. I rarely can see what life will be like beyond this week, much less 20+ years in the future- kind of fun :).

All smiles!!

Creativity and Elder Ukdorf

"Those who bring sunshine to others cannot keep it from themselves." Peter Pan

On Friday I painted my sister Lauras table and chairs multi-colored (like at Cafe Rio). It was so fun and I think they look pretty good if I do say so myself. On saturday, I spent the whole day in the kitchen attempting to can peaches and jam. Seriously, it took all day he;lping keep Jack entertained with playdough and artwork while I peeled the peaches and then to clean up a sticky gooey room splattered in peachy goo and then to clean up the play dough and art supplies.When it was all over I had converted my $20 box of tree-ripened peaches to 3 pints of freezer jam, 9 quarts of peaches and 2 quarts of what my mom calls spicy peach butter... I was sweaty and sticky and thinking to myself, "Self, why did you just spend all that time and effort doing that? Couldn't you have just bought peach jam at the store for $20 and saved the hastle?" I'd like to say that I just really like knowing exactly what's in my food, but I would prefer not to know my jam has 5 cups of sugar and some strange chemical called pectin, seriously, what is pectin? The truth is that I like feeling productive and I like creating things.

At Women's Conference on Saturday night, President Ukdorf said that the desire to create is a deep yurning that we all have, especially sisters. He said that this is because we are daughters of an endlessly ceative and imaginative God. Creation means bringing to existence something that wasn't there before. As a mother, I helped create my children and I can be creative as I teach them. Sometimes I just look at Jack's little boyish body and am so amazed that it grew inside of me and that I "made" him. Besides obvious stuff like paintings, watches, or Cafe Rio furniture, I can create gardens, laughter, and special memories for my family.

President Ukdorf also talked about how serving others makes us stronger and helps us overcome our grief. As a new Mommy, I get frustrated sometimes. If I spend too much time at home, I get ancy, like cabin fever and don't feel productive, but if I don't spend time at home, I feel guilty. I feel like I'm so absorbed in my immediate familys needs that I can't see beyond my home and miss how I fit into the big picture. Pre. Ukdorf said that as we serve, we will discover our own happiness and as we sacrifice, it opens windows for us to receive blessings an that as we lift others, we ourselves, will rise higher. I know this is true and experienced it this week. I accepted two assignments to cook food for muual and decorate a cake for cub scouts and those two assignments seemed to give my week mor meaning. Pres. Ukdorf promised us that as we notice loneliness and despair, we can be instruments in God's hands to answer prayers and as we immerse ourselves in service, our lifes will be more meaningful and happier and that God will encircle us in the arms of His love. I want to do this. I want to be available to help others and reach out.

New game: Name That Squash!

OK friends (and Mom) who are more domestic than me, I need some help figuring out what is this rogue squash that I let grow on its own. It has funky leaves that are different from a pumpkins. They started out yellow and smooth and then got bright orange and hard. When we tried to open a bright orange one up, it about broke the knife and was very green inside. Its seeds look kind of like pumpkin seeds. The skin seemed kind of soft at first but now it's kind of difficult to stick your fingernail in, but not hard as a rock like a gord...

Also, once we figure it out, if anyone has any squash receipes or ways to cook it. All I know how to do is bake it with butter and salt and pepper.

That's one mean squash...The Prize: whoever can name this squash may have their very own squash or squash cake or whatever I figure out how to make. :)

Birthday Fun!

September is a great month for birthdays! Jack's was on the 14th and he is 3 now! For the past month he's been telling everyone he was going to be 10. If it only worked that way- but actually not really, I would hate for him to skip to 10 and miss out on all these fun times. He is so sweet right now and constantly saying the funniest things. We went to Build-a-Bear for his birthday and he was in heaven. He was so cute kissing his little heart and rubbing it on his forehead before placing it in the bear. Everything is magical to him right now- which is just as it should be right? Of course we had to get the tool belt for him and Jack named his bear Bob the Builder Bear... :)

Charlie fits into the Build-a-Bear clothes

For his birthday, Jack got a sandbox, a tool bench, a Handy Manny doll, a Cars tent, a transformer, and some size 3T clothes which were promptly tossed aside after un-wrapping.. He is 3 afterall. Many Thanks to his Grandmas and Grandpas for making it such a special week. In between being sick , he was able to celebrate with the Wades in Wyoming, the Bradburys at the Spagetti factory, the Evans in West Jordon and he also had a little friends party at the park by our house. We had a soccerball pinata and the kids decorated cupcakes. It was very fun and Jack had a great time.

It was Becky's birthday on the 20th and we celebrated by going up to our Midway cabin, taking pictures in the leaves and eating sugar free birthday cake! Becky had an ipod birthday and has been trying to get her new nano up and working and loaded with all her good music. She also got a new Nike sensor so she can track all her running workouts. Yeah for more motivation...

Embarrasing sidenote: On my birthday we went to the Desert Star playhouse with my sister Laura and her roomate. We saw Scary Poppins which was appropriate because that's one of the few musicals I don't like. After the show, the introduce people celebrating birthdays and anniversarys. Since we were on the front row, the man were talking to us and said Hi to Adam and then asked Laura what she got her MOM for her birthday. She just said, ummm, and I said, "Uh, SISTER!" He said, "Oh shoot, it must be your glasses, they make you look older... um I mean, How do you recover from that?" Some guy in the back shouted out "Free Tickets!" So I guess this is becoming a tradition that someone will make me feel really old on my birthday. Last year, my girlfriends took me to a restaurant for a girls night out. They were harrassing the waitor and asked him who in the group looked oldest and who looked youngest and he picked me for oldest!! Sad, but I guess you're supposed to feel old on your birthday?

And now that birthdays are over, it's almost a little sad. Jack keeps asking when it's going to be his birthday again and we tell him not for a long long time, but he is still excited for Aunt Laura's birthday next month and then Daddys, etc.

Am I becoming crafty?

The past few weeks, I'm not sure whether it's because things are finally starting to settle down a bit after our adjustment period or whether I just don't know what do do with myself since I'm not working full-time and I have issues that I need to feel productive in a non-taking care of kids way. Last Saturday, I participated in a little fashion show with my friends Pumpkin and Sally. It was quite fun despite the fact that Jack was running all over the room hiding under all the clothes racks, closing the jewelery boxes, and Charly wouldn't be put down. We strutted down the center aisle of the store and then they gave us 60-70% off our clothing purchase. Fun times, especially the girl talk and the great news about Rachel that I'm not sure if I can post yet.

Here we are looking stylin. Jack was my escort down the runway the first time and Charly the second. I love our fall colors, maybe we'll get a family picture taken when the leaves change. That would be fun.
Since I am easily influenced as I discussed in a previous post, My friend Chelsea painted on some canvas for her baby Josh's bedroom and they turned out so cute, it made me want to try it. Last week my Mom took Jack for the morning and so I wanted to be productive- I wanted to paint (After the blue room incident, we all know know that Jack should not even be allowed to see me painting). First I painted a wall of Charlie's room, then I went to the craft store, bought paints and a canvas, borrowed an eisle from my cousin Dallas and went to town. I had all my paints out and was trying to mix the right colors (being the amateur that I am, I kept mixing too little paint and when I needed more and tried to mix it again I got a new color) So I ended up with these "modern art" pieces (I wanted to call it modern so that noone could tell that I don't really have talent) They turned out o.k. except for one of my squares is extremely crooked- It looked straight when I was painting it on the table but when I held it up to the wall it was crooked. My favorite part was slathering on the paint really thick so that you can tell it's real and not a print... I hung them on the wall in my kitchen and I like my new "Modern Art."
Another project that I copied off someone was these bracelet/watches. My cousin saw them at a Farmers Market and started making them and selling them for about $40. I liked them, but thought, "Hey I bet I could make those for less..." So I've made quite a few and they are really fun because you can switch out the colored bands to match your outfit. I made the orange, red and yellow one to go with my outfit I bought at the fashion show. So if you have a birthday coming up, I'm taking requests... :)

NUMBERS

I’ve been thinking about numbers.

Last week I went to my 6-week followup visit. This is the visit where the doctor says that magically now you are ready to do everything that you haven’t been able to (i.e. swim, have intercourse, etc) I smiled smugly to myself thinking about all the things that we have done this summer and feeling proud that I have been able to give both Charlie and Jackson all these fun experiences (even though they are both under three and I personally don’t have any memories until age six) and that I haven’t let this baby slow me down. Besides what other six-week old do you know who’s done so much?

3- The number of family reunions he’s been to (one was they day we came home from the hospital)

2- The number of times he’s been boating and out to Flaming Gorge

3- Trips to the pool

2- Parades he’s attended

3- Trips to Lagoon

2- Weeks old when he was first babysat by Grandma so I could start working

2- Days old when he first went to church

8+- trips to the park, the museum, in a sling, in a carrier (the only thing I haven’t tried yet is the bike carrier…)

The other day Laura came to visit and we walked down to the park with our neighbor friend Joey. While Laura held Charlie, I decided to get on the playground and chase Jack and Joey around and teach them hide-and-go-seek. Jack’s face was so happy and I could tell that it meant the world to him that I was playing rather than sitting on the bench nursing or saying I was too big to play. He even said, “Mommy, you not too big” He was so well behaved all day and I know that it was just this little bit of one-on-one attention that made him feel special. I knew that is how it worked, I read somewhere that when you put little investments of time and attention in their “piggy banks” kids are happier and better behaved- but why don’t I do it on a daily basis? Maybe because I get too caught up in making sure my boys are experiencing everything. Have I overdone it?

1- Very bad cold attacked me last night. I always get sick when Im stressed, it waits until I have a day off then gets me.

2- The number of sudafeds Adam gave me last night (today the pharmacist said I could take anything BUT Sudafed because it dries your milk up)

3- boxes of tissues I’ve gone through

3- Hours of sleep I've been averaging this week

1- Call to the lactation specialist- after being a very good nurser for six weeks, I suddenly have large bleeding cracks and don’t know what to do. I have a feeling it might be from thinking I was a pro and trying to nurse in odd places and odd positions, that or Charlies experiencing nipple confusion because he has to take an occasional bottle when I’m working.

7- The number of keys affected by a little squirt while I was trying to type this and change a diaper at the same time- (talk about sticky keys..)

I’m feeling like my whole philosophy is off. While I’ve been exhausting myself trying to do everything, work 20 hours, be a full-time stay at home mom, and give my boys all these fun experiences, the times that Jack is the happiest is when we’re home digging in the garden, reading books, swimming with Mommy or swinging on the swing. Often we are out doing fun things so late that we come home and don’t have time to read a book or do a bedtime routine, and then I feel like a mean mommy telling him we can’t read books and needs to go straight to bed. Charlie’s growing up so fast, he’s already doubled in weight, am I missing it because I’m still too focused on Jack? After a long battle with myself, I decided not to enroll him in pre-school even though I want him to have more social experiences with other kids. He doesn’t start kindergarten for 3 years. If I send him to pre-school now will I feel like I missed this year, is he ready? If I’m not working full time so that I can be home with Jack, shouldn’t I spend all the time loving on him as I can?

I feel like I need to slow down, but I’m not sure how. The numbers tell me I have to work and in consequence, I try and jam our lives full of fun to make up for the time I’m gone. Anyway, "Isn't it about time?" j/k Does anyone else feel this way? Just how important are all these numbers?

"Hair Today... Goone Tomorrow"

..."The good fairy to Little Bunny Foo Foo"

I've decided it runs in my family to be a little crazy, a little spontaneous, a little OCD and a little encouragable. When someone talks about something they had for dinner, it makes me want to go try hungry for it. When I find out where someone got a way cute shirt or shoes, I can't wait until I can go shopping and find one in my size. If I see a cute craft, I need to try it.

At work, a friend started talking to me about donating her hair and she told me that at Pantene Beautiful Locks, all of their hair goes directly to making wigs for the cancer patients, where companies like Locks of Love, (where I donated 3 years ago) sells alot of their hair to pay for overhead costs. She said it takes 6 poneytails to make one wig. I looked it up and they only need eight inches of hair rather than ten or twelve. This info combined with the fact that one of my best friends Mandy was told she had a week to pack and get ready to move her family to Alaska and I wanted to get some last minute visiting in, So I decided to go get my haircut and donate it.


I tried to find a pre and post picture, but I noticed all my pictures lately have been poneytails, partly because of laziness, and partly because I have two kids now. I don't want to give up asecond of precious sleep. here I am getting my cut at The Brass Comb in Farmington. When I had measured 8 inches it had been to the top of my shoulders, but she just kept cutting and cutting... but it turned out cute and I think Ruth did a good job.

Here's Mandy and Me. I'm holding up my little baggie with my poneytails of hair to be mailed in. They look like several small dead rats, actually more like guinnea pigs.

So now I suppose I am joining the world of short-haired moms. My Grandma said it makes me look more "mature" My sister says thats what girls do when the're unavailable. We use our long hair to attract the men and then once we're married or have a baby, we chop it off as a signal to everyone that we're taken. I've always looked at the cute girls in church with short modern styles and thought how stylish they look but I've consoled myself that I would never want to be forced to do my hair everyday and it is just so easy to put it in a poneytail that it's not worth looking thoroughly modern. But as I explained these things to my hairdresser, she kept thinning my hair and thinning it so I wouldn't be triangle head and whala- On saturday, I let my hair dry curly, put a little baret in and I got compliments on the curliness! Yeah- I have short stylish hair that doesn't require a daily blowdrying, Charlie can't grab it, and Jack won't accidentally kneel on it... I could get used to this...

We Love Flaming Gorge!!!

We went on a trip with our friends Dane, Stacy, Braden & Alyssa Anderson and had so much fun.
Adam and Jack in front of the famous Red Rocks
Adam was an excellent boat driver
After tubing all day, Jack and dane had some stylin hair. I had a flash foreward to what a hottie he will be when he's in high school... :)
Becky and Baby Charlie on his first boat ride (5 weeks old)




Here he is with his cute boatin' friends Alyssa and Braden

The next week we went up with Grandma and Grandpa Bradbury and Aunt Laura and celebrated Labor Day Weekend. We saw cows from the rodeo who moo-ed at us, watched the boat parade and fireworks, played games, watched movies, and had tons of fun.